our way on saturday. people probably shifting their travel plans before this next wave of winter weather comes in. i think we're in for a bit of a mess there, even more than we've speefnlt for now we're -- more than we've seen. for now, we're live reporting. we have more on the lackluster buying season and the current sales being offered to get people back into the stores. >> reporter: shoppers were greeted with door busting deals. >> they're great. >> reporter: stores are wooing customers with deals better than those on black friday. look for 75% to 80% off on some of these items. still in the holiday mode, stores opened early and planned to stay hope late with prices marked down and fresh promotions all in an effort to entice

people. according to the national retail federation, 10% of all gifts will be returned. experts predict today will be the top five shopping days. last year shoppers spent more than $7 b amazon is offering a tv marked down 40%. best buy cutting the price of a camera to $129.99. and a cashmere sweater from bloomingdale's now $89.99. this shopping season has been the worst since 2008. it was dammenned -- dammenned by hurricane sandy, the new town shooting and the fiscal cliff.

sales increased only 7/10ths of a. experted expected it to increase % to -- 3% to 4%. >> we want it hear from you. have you been waiting for hanukkah and christmas to pass to pick up the sales. will you be heading to the mall over the next few days. well, have you ever left homeland forgot on it close your garage or worse, come home to an overflowing toilet. angie's list home automation system. >> reporter: it can integrate all the systems of your house. she and her family were moving into a house her grandmother had lived in for 4345 years -- 45 years. >> we did the home security,

surround sound, speakers, audio systems throughout the house and savant control. we can control everything from our tv, alarm. >> the great thing about home automation, you can do it piecemeal. you can add additional things later. >> reporter: there are many subsystems that can be brought together. >> the home automation system integrates your security, your lighting control, your climate control and your audio/visual. imagine leaving the house and pressing a bought button it can arm the security system, turn off the lights, turn off the

television and music and set back the thermostat. >> reporter: they're not only convenient but they can provide you savings. >> if you're thinking about putting a home automation system in, check with your homeowner insurance. there may be discounts available to you on your homeowners insurance. >> our particular insurance company was 20%. it pays for itself. >> reporter: you can find some systems that are cheaper and do it yourself projects, but make sure you know what you're doing and that you test it. if you hire someone, make sure you do your homework. >> when hiring someone, you want to do your research on the company. angie's police collects information and get estimates, especially this type of the year when people are thinking about

purchasing the latest gadget. make sure the person doing the work is experienced and that your house isn't the guinea pig. >> a home automation may cost more but you mr. know that you can monitor it. for more, click on the life-style tab. you have the receipt and still the storp won't let you return the gift. we'll show you the gift return gotcha and we'll take a look at the top 10 entertainment stories of 2012. watching the weather begin to improve, but there are still nas tip winds to deal with and some winter showers. we got the details coming up.

it's the thought that counts but sometimes that thought miss the mark. if you're hitting the mall or trekking to the post office to return a holiday gift, listen to this first. abc2's karin caifa has more. >> reporter: returning a gift seems like it should be a simple task. with some items, there could be

strings attached. >> electronics are sticky. they're popular gifts this time of the year. many retailers will charge you a portion of the price, 15%, 20% whether you opened it or not. >> reporter: consume reports recommends reviewing a return policy before heading to the mall and keep the following in mind. gift receipts will make returns easier. not all purchases made online can be returned at a brick and moore ter p-tar -- more ter store f an item comes with a free or bonus gift, that usually has to be returned, too. >> you might not be able to return the something you paid for without the freebie. so if you got a package deal, bring everything back just to be

safe. >> i'm karin caifa. >> ba ham bug for netflix users. the streaming video service was out for a good part of the day. they blamed the cloud structure. netflix called it terrible timing on christmas eve and said they're back to normal. this is the third time this year that an amazon outage has disrupted netflix's service. still ahead, we'll count down the top entertainment story of the year and a dog returned home just in theme for christmas. >> that is a good scene. weather watch, not so much. ugly conditions, rain, snow and sleet. how will that move into the weekend? we got the answers coming up.

a tornado, there you see it spotted near mobile, alabama. the funnel cloud spark electricity. several power lines and tree limbs were down. look at that. further north and west, snow in arkansas, that's a lot more than we go. hun -- got. hundreds of thousands were in the dark. a blizzard warning was in effect for several hours there. right now we're still seeing some of that. it's interesting. a streamer that is producing winter weather. it's clearing over baltimore itself. you can see the rain coming down points toward cecil ton.

a few wet flakes could be mixing. basically one of cold nasty rain over the eastern shore as we speak. watching the overall setup there will be a few wintry showers. we could see a few flurry rest. take a look at the setup. winter weather advisory. we'll see if there's an extension. high wind advisories for central maryland. wind peak gusts about 40 or so. bel air at 40. as you go further north and west, there, you do seat numbers close to that freezing point. that's why you need to drive

with extra care. wind gusts up around 28 to 40 today and expect the wind gusts to stay high. it has been a snowy situation in manchester. in laurel it changed to rain. you can see the snow disappearing on the fee.d we picked up an inch to an inch and a half in the city before we had that cling over to rain. now the current conditions at bwi, 37 with humidity at 100%. wind chill factors feeling like 17 in hagerstown, just 27 in baltimore, that northeasterly wind that will be turning northwest tonight. you seat overall system. the main precipitation wedge is north of baltimore. we've got the center of the low

still to come. we've got one notch coming over the center. the main storm over southern west virginia. on the back side there could be some rain and snow showers mixed. here's the setup. the main rain continuing to least area. a band through maybe 7:00, k-89. it's not impossible to see rain or mixed showers first thing in the morning. then we see clearing. the windy conditions will make it feel raw and ugly. temperatures continuing to stay cold. no real warm up. it's a concern to look at our next storm that will come in the wake of this one. you can see this storm blowing out. blustery day but dry. our second storm on the boards developing off the texas coast, set to arrive saturday during the day. with that cold air around that could mean a couple inches of wintry precipitation. tonight 34 with the rain and snow showers clearing out, 37.

let's get you into the seven-day forecast forecast. you can see the setup. we'll get brief clearing after a windy one tomorrow. that next storm coming in on saturday. more wintry weather likely. new year's eve monday night into tuesday, that looks pretty clear but a couple weather makers to get through starting to see a few power outages, a few dozen. >> wind gusts. >> look for that tomorrow also. thanks, wyatt. this is the time of the year most of us take stock and think about the year as it comes to an end. sit back and enjoy a glimpse of the year. >> reporter: catchy dance tunes, celebrity breakups and the tragic death of a singing icon, just a few of the things that had people talking. here's a look at cnn's to 10

news stories from 2012. the song was almost inches scapable. carly rae jepsen's viral sensation. it earned her two grammys and countless reenactments online including this one posted by the u.s. olympic swim team. the force is now strong with disney. in a move that caught many by surprise, the star wars franchise creator george lucas sold his film for more than $4 billion. what's more, disney announced plans for three more star wars films. it's the superstar relation that has hollywood asking are they or aren't they? chris brown who then beat his girlfriend in 2009 said he has

renewed his friendship. but are they more then just friends? >> they want to keep everyone guessing. they don't want to explain to anyone in the world. >> reporter: more turmoil for the jackson family as michael jackson's teenage daughter paris announced an twitter that her grandmother and guardian, kathleen, jackson, was missing. >> she's back home. >> reporter: michael jackson's siblings disputed it saying their mother was resting in arizona. katherine was restored as permanent guardian of michael jackson's children. whether this was a pleasure or guilty plerks audiences couldn't turn away from tlc's hit reality show "honey boo boo."

rapper psy went from a relatively unknown performer to a worldwide phenomenon. it became the number one watched video on youtube with more than 970 million views, but psy's new found fame wasn't without crossers. harsh antiamericans he made during a performance in 2004 resurfaced online. he apologized saying his lyrics were emotionally charged and resulted from events in iraq. in one of the most surprising stories of the year, elmo puppeteer kevin clash was forced to leave sesame street because

of relations with a minor. twilight's stars cress ten stewart -- chris ten stewart and rob better -- robert pattinson had been a couple. >> she released a very public statement asking robert for forgiveness. >> reporter: pat tin son did -- pattinson did forgive. after nearly six years of marriage, katie holmes filed for divorce against tom cruise. >> how katie holmes had everything so well prepared. >> reporter: although holmes' asked for full custody, the

couple settled am mickcally on the divorce ending one of the most high profile celebrity marriages. >> the breaking news of whowft -- whitney houston's death. >> reporter: whitney houston died february 11ing in the a hotel bathtub, the night before the grammy awards. houston's death was pan accidental -- an accidental drowning with cocaine and drug use as contributing factors. reporting for cnn hollywood. >> disney buying lucas films, low on that list. we put together a list of the biggest web stories here of the year. you can check out the stories, everything from the question over ballot questions to the

dangers of wearing skinny jeans. check out the featured stories fee complur. we are going on ride with police. we take a look inside one local mall has customers hunt for post holiday deals. now a preview of what's ahead on world news at 6:30. >> a mastiff winter storm on the move. our exhibit stream weather team in it and sam champion with the latest track. hey, look! a shooting star!

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7-year-old mia was heartbroken after her beloved dog marley was snatched from the streets as they shopped. the thief tried to sell the dog but a good samaritan bought it and she thought something wasn't right. >> i said i would like to buy the dog. i only have $100. he said it's my friend's dog and he wants more money for the dog. >> police caught up with the thief and arrested him. marley was returned and was happy. first lady michelle obama recently read "'twas the night before christmas" and a creature was stirring, namely the obama family dog bo.

he jumped on her lap. the white house said visiting patients at the children's hospital is a hl day tradition that dates back to the 1950's. we're taking you inside a local mall for a look at the post holiday sales. snow. slow down, drivers, but is there more winter weather on the way? >> a man in taneytown was killed after an officer involved shooting. first, we are tracking the weather. snow, freezing rain and sleet. meteorologist wyatt everhart